Triforce of Remnant
by A Stern Glare
Summary: Jaune just wanted to be normal, is that so hard? But in a world of RPG's, CRAP's, HP's, PC's, and TS's, it is apparently hard to be normal. Being part of the royal family of a country with roots beyond the dawn of time doesn't help. Also, all of these Acronyms are really starting to annoy him.
1. Chapter 1

**I owe all inspiration for this chapter to Coeur Al'Aran, and I'm sorry that I'm putting something else out without touching any of my other stories, but I think it'd be an interesting premise. I don't want to come across as plagiarising him, but I gave it my own spin, and I was hoping that Sempai might Notice me.**

 _ **Jaune is definitely not the most cooperative of clients, but he is assuredly the most frequent I've had recently.**_

 _ **-**_ Death

It should have been obvious when his uncle died in that sewer, seeing as he had been buried in a nice cemetery in Ordon for six years. even more obvious when he found Roman Torchwick attacking some poor girl on the other end of the tunnel, but he refused to accept it all the way up until he heard the boss music. It was a quest, and he was facing the first boss. He hated quests, but he had to admit, it was a good score for an opening conflict piece.

He tried turning around and leaving through the door he entered, but when he opened the door, all he saw was a janitor's closet and a small treasure chest. "Ooh! Please let it be a weapon!" He popped the lid of the treasure chest and sighed as the bright light and the catchy jingle drew quite a few people to his location, all for:

"Two hundred Rupees...great...I can beat them over the head with it..." he shivered as he turned around slowly, raising his hand above his head, only to stop and stare as the familiar yellow arrow appeared above the distressed looking goon's head. The goon took a step back and shot Jaune a look. "What? Never seen a guy in a tunic before?"

"Hand over the dust." The thug said, reaching out to take it, and reeling back as it completely disappeared. "Hand over your wallet?"

Jaune pulled it out of his hammerspace and watched in boredom as it hovered a foot above his hand lazily bobbing up and down. The would-be thief just took a couple steps back and ran off. "You just can't find a good mugger anymore, can you?"

"Not for lack of trying. I tell ya, it's just the job market these days?" Roman Torchwick peered over his shoulder and Jaune shook his head. Turning into a hostage was awkward at the best of times, and inconvenient at the worst. People had a horrible habit of shooting him when they were done, and after that there was the whole interface recalibration. "So, would you mind complying, it'd make this easier for both of us?"

"No, but I would love to turn around and just walk away." Roman sighed and shook his head, pointing his cane straight at Jaune's head. "I didn't think so...Well, we do this the old fashioned way. If talking doesn't work, you have two options."

Jaune smacked away the cane with the back of his hand and took another step closer to Roman, only for another voice to shout out from behind them. "Hey!"

The girl couldn't have been older than fifteen, but considering the size of the scythe she was holding, he wouldn't bother pointing out her relative age. Roman had balls of steel, and no qualms about fighting something that big.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, Red?" Roman Torchwick, notorious criminal and debonair mastermind stepped through the broken plate-glass window.

"Seriously? A condescending taunt in the middle of battle? Aren't you a bit old for that? You're what, sixty? Next you're going to say something about respecting your elders?" Jaune leaned on one leg and smirked, holding out his hand, twirling a red cleaver that he had pried from an unconscious goon's grip.

"Weren't you going to try diplomacy first?" Roman asked in faux curiosity, leaning his cane on his shoulder.

"You're wearing mascara, there's obviously no reasoning with you." He took the blade in his left hand and frowned. "So, on a scale of one to ten, how many times do you think I'm going to die in this battle?"

"Probably only once, unless you're very unlucky." Jaune nodded and turned to Roman, hurriedly searching for something he could use as a shield.

A short cut scene ensued, where Roman spun his cane with pizazz and panache before launching himself at Jaune. He knocked Jaune back, but, as usual it took no hearts. Jaune finally found what he needed and hefted the ruined wagon wheel, now a makeshift shield, with practiced ease, swiftly deflecting Roman's first blow, but the second pushed his shield to the side and left him stumbling back. Roman tried to fire a shot at him with some kind of glowing orb inset in the base of his cane, but he performed a quick backflip, landing lightly on his feet before taking the explosive shot straight on his shield. By this time, the other redhead had regained her senses and shot forward to counter Roman, but instead of catching him with her scythe, she too was blasted back by his cane, giving Jaune just enough time to shield bash Roman, causing him to stumble back at the inordinate amount of force that such a small kid could produce.

Jaune leapt over him, swinging his sword toward Roman with his spin. He blocked it barely, ducking down and deflecting it off his cane. Ruby slid toward the Red-headed rogue and caught him inside the nook of her scythe, unfortunately, she also caught Jaune, and in that moment of hesitation, Roman whacked his cane across Ruby's knuckles, causing her to reel back, leaving an opening for Torchwick to fire another blast into the young girl.

Jaune was there before the round left the barrel, smashing his makeshift shield into the side of Roman's cane, knocking his aim off course. Roman shoved past the two and toward an errant fire escape, hopping over the edge of the roof before Ruby could fire off a shot. Ruby looked to the store owner and asked a question of some kind, but Jaune was already on his way toward where Roman had gone.

Rule 1: Never give the enemy a chance to rest. (See Appendix 1)

Rule 2: Stay close to your opponent. (See Appendix 2)

(App. 1) Unless there's loot.  
(App. 2) Unless they display obvious elemental attributes, i.e. Freezing breath, fiery breath, electrical discharge at random intervals, etc.

Dad may have been the Knight of Hyrule, but mom was a princess, and thusly, one hell of a lawmaker, and a stickler for protocol.

Anyway, there was no loot, so it was down to Jaune to chase after Roman, and bring out the most recent feather in his cap. "Hey, Torchwood!"

Roman growled and turned around, angered almost as much as he was amazed at the speed that this blonde runt got here. "It's Torchwick!"

"Whatever! Say cheese!" He held up a strange tablet, and suddenly Roman was flying off the edge of the roof. Fortunately for him, (and for plot continuation), there happened to be a chariot hovering not too far from where he would have fallen.

It swerved just enough to catch Roman and sped away. Jaune sprinted toward the edge of the roof and hunched over, and a voice began to speak until a bang went off beside him, knocking him off balance. A figure stood on either side of him, both extending their weapons of choice, one a scythe with a rock of some kind protruding from the shaft, the other, a riding crop. Normally, a six foot long scythe with a no doubt explodey bit in the shaft would be far more intimidating than a foot and a half long riding crop, but when considering the person at the other end of the two, Jaune had no doubts that the scythe was the safer of two options. Once the Chariot was well and truly away, Jaune turned toward the tall blonde woman wielding her weapon of wrath and held up his left hand as if to fend off her withering glare. "To be fair, I almost had him."

It wasn't the best thing he could have said at that point if the sudden tense background music was any sign. The girl behind him squealed in delight and the music took on a light and jovial tone. "You're a real huntress?!"

Jaune turned to look at the short girl behind him and rolled his eyes. "Can I have your autograph? What class are you? Was that glyph thing an active?"

"Dude, can you stop? I'm trying to write my eulogy here." Jaune said testily.

"You two are in major trouble."

"So I'm sitting there, and one second my dad is just sitting there, completely silent, usual green tunic in place, and next thing I know, he's six feet away, sword drawn and shield up, facing down a now unarmed Darknut. So I, being 12 at the time, walk over to this Darknut's HUGE two handed claymore and try nudging it with my feet, only for it to cut into the sole of my boot. The thing was so sharp that it cut through leather, rubber, cloth and a sheet of molded steel just being nudged." Jaune did his best to distract both the angry blonde and the distant seeming silver haired man as he awaited some form of salvation. The music was suggesting that he was in danger, but it didn't look like either of his interrogators was going to attack any time soon.

"A Darknut, you say?" The silver haired man inquired, looking deep in thought. "What exactly does a _Darknut_ look like- Mr. Arc, was it?"

"Yeah! A Darknut is about Seven feet tall, covered in armor, usually dark armor, but occasionally it'll be gold. It's got a freaking huge claymore or a morningstar, and when it has the claymore it's usually got a pretty thick shield as well. They're weakness is how easy the armor can be knocked off-"

"Stop talking." A stern blonde woman with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes strode into the room, stopping beside Jaune and turning to face Ozpin and Glynda. "Are you arresting my son?"

"No, in fact I had planned on offering an alternate option." He turned to face Jaune and gave him a distant look. "How would you like to attend Beacon RPG?"

"He is not interested." His mother responded.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon RPG." He stood up and held a hand out to her to shake.

"My name is Zelda Anaeuthemia Hyrule, Queen of Hyrule, and this is my son, Jaune Arc Hyrule." Zelda brought herself to her full height and stared down the pair without the slightest shred of fear.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm not interested…" Jaune spoke up from beside his mother. He tipped his head to the side and adjusted the collar of his tunic, not making eye contact with anyone. "I mean, it could be nice to meet some more kids my age. The closest thing I've got to a friend my age is Riju, and she's- well, she's always either surfing or stuck in the palace. Come on! It's a chance to meet kids my own age, it'll be great, and the best part is that they'll be training too!"

"Jaune…" Zelda sighed and looked between the two men in the room. "I swear to the goddesses, if you fail even one class, I'm pulling you out. No questions, no ifs, ands, or buts, and no second chances. And no talking to strangers!"

"Mom! You are the best! Don't worry about the classes, I'm sure I'll do great!" Zelda nodded and looked him over again.

"Your dad is going to go bug nuts when he hears about this." Jaune froze, turning to face her slowly before smiling a brittle grin. "And he will hear about this."

"Well...this'll end well…" Jaune muttered sarcastically.

Against all expectations, the conversation went well...

"Yes dad, I- I know you didn't have to- well-. "

"Yeah…well, I'm not quite as well equipped as you. You have the Triforce of Courage, I have-"

"No dad, I'm not-."

"Look, there're no monsters out here that can-"

"Dad, can you quit interrupting me?"

Zelda stalked through the halls elegantly and plucked the phone from Jaune's hand. "Link, he's joining the school. I've considered the options, and he will receive training from heroes with decades of experience, including Urbosa."

"I know that you are technically the hero of Hyrule, but you don't have nearly as much experience as these heroes will."

"Mom, what is going on?" Jaune let his face fall into his hand and moaned grievously. As he looked up, he spotted the girl from the robbery prattling away at the woman who had also been on the rooftop. Man, she was intimidating.

"So, because my class and subclass have conflicting weapon requirements, I figured that either I could double-fist it, but I'm way too small for that, so I decided to combine the two weapons to form one cooler weapon."

"But don't you face the same problem, even with a combined weapon? It's still the same weight?" Jaune interrupted, much to the shorter girl's chagrin and the taller woman's relief. "Sorry to interrupt, but why do you even need to have these two weapons?"

"You didn't go to Signal, did you? That's basic Class theory!"

"He was homeschooled with an emphasis on combat." Zelda interrupted with a fake smile.

"Well, certain classes have predispositions and preferences, leaving them stronger when they use certain weapons. For instance, I'm a Paladin, subclass Witch. Now, a Paladin needs to have a long, bladed weapon for Smiting, and a Witch needs a long staff with a neutral ore in the end for casting and channeling." Jaune nodded along and scratched the back of his head.

"But why put them together? You never answered my first question." Ruby looked affronted for a moment before she realized that Jaune wasn't criticizing her weapon, rather, he was investigating it.

"Well, if I one handed either one, it would half my dexterity and strength with it, but since the two are now one, I can use both hands for both weapons at one time!"

"That's dope."

"No one says that anymore. Anyway, I guess I'll see you at Beacon RPG." Jaune waved goodbye and looked up at his mom. Zelda ran her hand through her hair and gently took Jaune's hand, guiding him from the police station and toward an ornate carriage, guided by two stallions and a soldier in elite armor.

"Archibald, take us to the nearest library. It's time for Jaune to learn more about the outside world."


	2. Auracle of Season 1

_Jaune had turned sixteen that year, meaning that he was supposed to begin horse mounted training, however he was instead enlisted into Beacon RPG, starting what could possibly be considered a complete upheaval of the CRAP system. He entered without a class, a rank, or any abilities, and somehow, he still kicked ass._

 _ **"I Can't Believe I Survived That": A Jaune Arc Biography**_

 __ _-Adelaide Le Beau_

"So, there's these things called Classes, Rankings, Actives and Passives, and I'm just now hearing of this, why?" Jaune asked, bordering on petulant. "And what does RPG even stand for?"

"RPG stands for Remnant's Protection Gentry." Zelda replied irritably. "And yes, there are all of those things in this world, and we didn't tell you because you weren't old enough."

"And how old is old enough?!" Jaune leapt to his feet, sending the chair he was in clattering across the floor.

"Sit." Zelda said, leaning forward and making intense eye contact with her son.

He sat down. She was _quite_ the fearsome woman. "Old enough was seventeen, when you were supposed to head out on your first sojourned quest." Jaune looked down and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that, but you know how I feel about horses-"

"Yes, yes, they're dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle. You've made that very clear, all the time." Zelda stepped around the table in the library and gave her son a hug. "Look, we need to get you some clothes, because I refuse to allow you to wear that tunic all the time, it needs to be washed occasionally."

"Well, I could get into dad's old stuff…"

"No." Zelda stopped him there. Link never wore his old gear ever since he became prince of Hyrule and Zelda's personal guard. He always wore ceremonial gear. "It's bad enough that you're wearing the tunic of the wild without our permission, but I don't want you-…on second thought, go ahead, you already have access to his HP, so why not?" She smiled a hidden, devious smile and stood.

"Awesome!" Jaune paused, as did Zelda. "Wait. Why are you okay with this? You never change your mind."

"I'm turning over a new leaf." Zelda lied blatantly, obviously not caring if Jaune believed her or not. "Also, this means Link will finally learn to do laundry."

Jaune looked up at his mother and bit his lip worriedly. "Mom. I saw some of these guys doing seriously weird stuff, do you really think I can fight that?" Zelda gave him a reassuring look and shook her head.

"Jaune, do you really think I would send you here if I didn't think you could handle it?" She caressed Jaune's cheek and they shared a kind smile before a frown came to his face.

"Well, there was that one time back in Lanayru-! " Zelda smacked the back of his head and he smiled. "I trust you mom."

"Good, now, we need to give you full access to the HP." Zelda opened up her HP and looked through the PC. "There, try it now."

Jaune pulled up his HPI and smiled broadly. "So cool! Dad's got a Thunder blade in here! He's got- wait. He has two Hylian Shields?" Jaune squeaked and pumped his fist. He was going to totally kick serious ass in this new school. He looked through his armor list and saw all of his favorites. He stepped into the Hyperspace Door and quickly changed into his favorite gear: The Hylian tunic, the climbing bandanna and the Hylian trousers.

Jaune looked up at his mother and smiled. _He was going to be with people his own age!_ He was going to be with people his own age…Shit! He was going to be with people his own age…Social awkwardness was his highest stat, and now he was going to be testing it against real targets. _Yay_. His smile turned into a frown, then a panicked whine slipped from his lips. "Aww man."

 _ **An Excerpt from Bruno Marshall's "History of Remnant's Technological and Martial Evolution."**_

 __ _"Technology has advanced the fields of medicine, transportation, education, construction and even agriculture, however, due to an aberration pact sealed 100 years ago, mankind has ceased all attempts to advance the state of weaponry through technology and instead has elected to improve this area through only the increasingly creative application of magic and willpower."_

 _ **This piece of literature has been rescinded from public consumption due to the fact that 95% of the audience that attended his lecture, and 98% of those that read his paper all committed suicide due to boredom. This guy talks for a long time about the combustion engine, and even longer about antibiotics.**_

The bullhead was rocking gently as it approached the beacon cliffs, meanwhile, Jaune was vomiting violently as he knelt over a trash can. He had never had this problem with Loftwings, but hey, mom wanted him to be normal, and normal people didn't have giant birds that they ride through the sky apparently, which sucked. The bullhead looked like a giant metal turtle with fins from the outside, but from the inside it looked like a death trap with strange holographic projections across the windows.

"Well, I guess the view's not for everyone." A blonde haired girl wearing spiked knuckle gauntlets joked. Jaune turned to look at her, and flipped her the bird, causing her to smirk. Her sister approached behind Jaune, tapping him on the shoulder and smiling happily. "Ruby, come back!"

"Hi, you're that guy from the other night, the one who fought Torchwick with me. You're the one who kept on asking me about my weapon, right?" He nodded, stood up straight to respond and knelt into the trashcan again, hurling loudly. "Here, I got you a book because your mom said that you didn't have a lot of experience with-"

"What she means to say is thanks for the save the other day." The blonde said, approaching from behind and patting her sister on the shoulder. She knelt down and stage whispered. "She's shy."

"Hello shy, I'm Jaune." Ruby recoiled in horror as Yang's eyes widened. "Oh! Gangway, I'm about to chunder." Jaune turned back around and knelt his head back into the bucket, spewing chunks of partially digested food into the bag _._ Fortunately, it was a Hefty garbage bag, or this chapter would end differently.

"Yeah…that's great first friend material you got there Ruby." Yang laughed and patted Jaune on the back, causing him to give her a thumbs up that then spun into a pair of middle fingers. "You know, I like that you think I won't kill you. I can snap your wrists with my fingers."

"And I can tie a double slipknot in a cherry stem with my tongue." Jaune responded sarcastically. "I don't think it matters how many fingers it takes to snap my wrist, because I still have broken wrists and then-…I'll vomit on your shoes. That's called cause and effect."

Yang hesitated and held out her hand. "I'm Yang, class Brawler, subclass Avenger."

"I'm Jaune, and I like not having broken wrists." He shook Yang's hand and held up a finger. "I don't know what class I have, but I'm hoping it sounds half as awesome as yours does."

"How can you not know your own class?" Yang looked flabbergasted. Jaune just shrugged. "The only way you could not know your class is if you've never checked your menu before…you have checked your menu before, right?"

"Sure, how else can I store my items?" Jaune tilted his head to the right and traced a vertical line in the air in front of him. He stepped forward and disappeared from view. When he appeared again, he was equipped with a long, reinforced bow, a dark kite shield, and a scimitar that seemed to reflect an unnatural light. "I also have tons of changes of clothes in my menu."

Yang looked freaked out, but Ruby looked ecstatic. "That's not how a menu is supposed to work. You just close your eyes, take a deep breath and you should get your class, ranking, actives and passive lists. It's CRAP."

"Yeah, it sounds like crap to me." Jaune shrugged and closed his eyes. Keeping them closed for a few seconds before opening them again and sighing. "Well, I looked like you said, but all I saw were those weird afterglows from lights when you close your eyes."

"Seriously?!"

"Isn't there some way you could check it?"

"Well, Sages and Prophets can check classes and stuff, and there's…- never mind, but neither of us has the right subclass." Ruby scratched the back of her head and Jaune tilted his to the side, looking slightly above their heads at the hovering green arrows pointed down at them. _I wonder what the Sheikah Slate has to say…_

Jaune pulled out the same tablet that he aimed at Roman before and held it up to the two of them, causing Ruby to take a quick step back, but Yang just gave him a strange look. He sighed and let it fall to his side. "Sheikah Slate has nothing for me too."

"So what all does that thing do?" Yang gestured at the slate that he stuck back on belt. Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she realized that she just saw Torchwick freeze and Jaune beat him up, and then he unfroze and went flying.

"It can control metal, it can freeze time around certain objects, it can freeze water, it can create and remotely detonate both square and round bombs, and it can take pictures." Yang and Ruby both took a single large step back at his list and eyed it a little more warily. "But it can't seem to tell me anything about classes and crap."

"It's not crap, it's CRAP." Yang corrected, making sure to pronounce the capitalization. Jaune just nodded (not understanding the difference) as the doors to the Bullhead opened to reveal the glorious grounds of Beacon Academy. "C'mon Ruby, it's time to enter the big leagues."

Jaune was close behind them, only far enough to see the disaster approach as Yang bolted. Ruby spun in the dust cloud of her sister's hasty retreat and toppled into a large pile of luggage being pushed by what appeared to be a faceless NPC. As Ruby fell, several briefcases tumbled from the stack and fell open, revealing vials of ground dust.

Jaune approached to try and help Ruby to her feet, but before he could a flurry of white descended on the young girl like an albino hurricane. "YOU IMBECILE!"

"This'll end well…" Jaune muttered, striding toward the downed girl, only to stop as the white haired girl who he was previously ignoring suddenly combusted. His hair stood on end as electricity crackled through the air, mixed with flecks of ice and spurts of fire. "Called it."

He was about to approach again, only to stop as a shadow seemed to slink away from the tree and raise to form a beautiful woman. She interrupted the albino hurricane's tirade and caused her to huff. She crossed her arms and the white haired girl stormed away, followed by the shadow girl suddenly disappearing. As he finally gathered up the nerve to approach Ruby he heard her mutter. "Welcome to Beacon."

"Hey Shy-guy, tough morning?" He reached down and helped Ruby to her feet, helping her adjust her cloak so the hood was in the back again. "Let's just get this orientation thing over with, okay?"

The two walked through the extravagant courtyards and made small talk until they hit the main auditorium. "Oh, hey! There's my sister! I'll see you later Jaune!"

"Aww man…where else am I gonna find a nice, quirky girl to talk to?" Behind him, however, stood a nice quirky girl that looked like she really needed a friend. As Jaune slithered through the audience, trying to get a better spot, a silver haired, somber looking man walked onto the stage and stepped to the microphone.

"I'll be brief." Ozpin used the same speech every year, and every year the students ate it up with awe and stars in their eyes. "I look around this hall, and see titles above the heads of hundreds of students, but I don't see heroes." He continued without even thinking, examining a few impressive prospective students. Ruby Rose, a Paladin. Her sister, a Brawler like her father. Pyrrha Nikos, a Spartan. Weiss Schnee, a Mage. As he brought his speech to a close, he heard raucous clapping from the front of the audience, at first from one student and then from two others, one dragged in against his will, and another happily following the example of the first.

"Wait, are we not supposed to clap?" The first student asked, and as he looked at him, Ozpin quietly shook his head and began to leave the stage. "But it was a good speech!"

As Ozpin turned the corner, he realized something that he should have seen earlier. The boy who asked about clapping, didn't have a class. Ozpin felt a shiver as he realized the magnitude of that statement. Everyone had a class, whether it was a hero specific class or merely "Villager", everyone had a class. Ozpin shut his eyes and tried his best to remember when he spoke with Jaune before in the interrogation room. "No class…"

This required further contemplation. James would want to know about this. He hadn't had the presence of mind to pay attention to any class or subclass last night when he had approached him about Beacon. If the class curse was wearing off, then that means that-...no, that was a thought for another time. Glynda would have them moving into the sanctuary, for their first real test.

The Room of Worship was famous throughout Remnant for the variety of deities worshipped there. It was also the most bloodcurdling, spine-chilling, horrific, and dismal place in the world at night. Thousands of altars and idols stared down at the floor from a huge cathedral and echoing chambers of stone. An average of seventeen perspective students left on the first night, unable to spend the night in the cathedral. Ozpin helped perpetuate many of the rumors surrounding the cathedral, as a sort of test of courage.

The night changed people. A whispered edge descended on the students, as shadows undulated and swayed in the way that only humanity, intermingled with the darkness could achieve. Shadows strangled out the light and sound of humanity, slowly crawling closer and closer to the hovering lamps. Laughter grew fragile and brittle, forced through gritted teeth and clenched fists, but you couldn't fight the darkness, you could only fight the fear, and that was a much more daunting foe. People huddled together into groups of hastily formed friends, anything to stave of the isolation that the silence of the shadows produced.

Or at least most people did. In a lonely corner of the cathedral, a mane of dark hair, topped by a black bow scanned the room, the glow of her eyes pushed back at the darkness like a bulwark against the unending tide of the darkness and fear. Their glare, however, did the same to repulse the approach of almost everyone else.

Almost.

"He~llooo!" Yang called as she marched over, carrying her younger sister under her arm. "I think you two might know each other?"

"Aren't you that girl that blew up in the courtyard?" Blake's eyes never strayed too far from her glare into a seemingly random spot in the darkness. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I'm Ruby, but you can call me Shyg- um, you can call me Ruby." Blake didn't appear to be listening too closely, but she still noticed the "Shyguy" slip-up.

"Blake."

"I'm a Paladin…?" Ruby trailed off, not entirely sure how to continue, seeing as Witch wasn't exactly a common subclass.

"Shinobi." Blake stated tersely, her eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, she's a lost cause." Yang said finally, starting to turn around.

"Shinobi? That's usually a Mistralian class, centered around a shadow deity, right?" Ruby began to vibrate as her smile widened. Blake's eyes finally sweeped to meet Ruby's. "I didn't have many friends in my formative academy, so I read a lot of theory books."

"Yeah, Nekokami." Blake turned to Yang and cocked her head to the side. "What about you?"

"I'm a-" She was about to answer when a sudden calmness rang through the air alongside the tender notes of a woodwind instrument. Yang's eyes began to droop as she swayed back and forth. "What- what's that? It's pretty."

"Yang, I'm tire...tired." Ruby murmured as she slowly draped herself across her sister's shoulders. Yang looked down at Blake to say goodnight, but Blake was already asleep, laying in a heap against the wall.

Yang practically tossed Ruby onto her sleeping bag and collapsed into her own. As her eyes drifted shut, she realized that the dark wasn't so claustrophobic anymore. It was no longer a blanket to smother the light, it was just the backdrop of the stars.

The Sun rose with a peppy song on the same instrument from the night before. Jaune liked the time just before dawn because it was watching the world wake up. He observed people as they slowly rose like Redeads from the grave of deep sleep. He liked watching people struggle with bedhead too, it was the purest form of realism. A tall redhead walked past with a swagger that shouldn't have been possible in a person wearing plaid pajamas.

"Move, peasant."

"Okay." Jaune responded, stepping into Cardin's path.

"I said MOVE!" Cardin tried to shove Jaune aside, only for him to step into his path again. "What are you doing?!"

"Moving." Cardin placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder and slid him to the left, stepping around him to the right. "Have a nice day!"

Another redhead, much shorter this time, walked past Jaune with an equally impossible gait. "G'morning." She lurched past him with bed head like a super saiyan.

"Hey Shyguy." Jaune smiled and ruffled her hair, which did nothing to improve or hurt her hair situation. She mumbled something under her breath and Jaune smiled. "Well, I'll see you at the starting line."

The starting line was less of a line and more of a series of platforms overlooking an expansive forest. "Today, we're going to throw you off a cliff." A stout man with a moustache of much panache said joyously. "Now normally, the headmaster would be here for this sort of thing, but he's busy with something obviously important, so he suggested that Barty and I do this, to which I replied: Haha! Good fellow it would be my pleasure!"

"Yes! If everyone would step on one of these platforms, we will proceed to explaining how this will go!" He looked around, and realized that everyone was already on a platform. He cleared his throat and continued. "Yes! Quite! Once you have been launched, you will move to the center of the forest and collect one relic and then make your way to the ruins on the south side of the forest. You will then be expected to hold your position there until the next team of two arrives and relieves you."

"Alright my brave warriors, are you ready?!" Without waiting for a response, the porky man thumbed a button on his scroll and the first person flew through the air.

"Okay Ruby, you can do this, you can do this, you can do this!" She chanted beside Jaune before turning toward him.

"See you at the finish Shyguy." And the race began...sorta…


End file.
